Brief:

• With "hypermade" video ads on Pinterest, where users can view a sped-up project from start to finish, Lowe's saw double the uptick in awareness than a standard Promoted Pin and double the completion rate versus an average 25-second video, Lowe's VP of targeted marketing Shannon Versaggi said during a session at Advertising Week New York on Monday.
• The test led Lowe's to embrace Pinterest's new expanded video feature in August, which came with a lower CPM than the industry standard. Now, the retailer is retargeting users who view expanded video content with shopping ads.
• The home improvement chain is also working with a location data provider to measure the impact of Pinterest advertising on in-store traffic, as well as tests with Visa to study incremental revenue lift. Lowe's plans to test sharing its transactional data with Pinterest to better map the customer journey and deliver more relevant content.

Insight:

Lowe's has partnered with Pinterest for the past five years and now that relationship is getting cozier than ever thanks to a shared focus on leveraging data to enhance marketing. Emphasizing data as a foundational pillar for its marketing programs and overall business, Lowe's over the past several years has built out platforms to enable stronger measurement, such as tracking both online and in-store traffic, developing media mix modeling, multitouch attribution tools and analyzing consumer data to better determine ROI for the retailer's marketing efforts. Sharing transactional data with Pinterest could help take these efforts to the next level by enabling Lowe's to better tailor content at a time when consumers are demanding more personalization while gaining a deeper understanding of social content's role in the shopping journey.

The chain's test of location and transactional data to measure Pinterest's effectiveness on in-store traffic and sales comes as Pinterest works to ramp up its advertising appeal. According to an eMarketer report released Monday, Pinterest is set to hit $500 million in U.S. advertising this year, a 43.8% jump from 2017. By 2020, ad revenue for the platform is projected to cross the $1 billion mark, as it leverages its new data and continues to beef up measurement efforts.

"We're here to help people love where they live, and I think Pinterest plays a big role in that. With 250 million monthly users now, it's one of the fastest-growing platforms in our mix," Versaggi said.

People search differently on Pinterest rather than a traditional search engine, according to Versaggi. About 55% of users say they're looking for products to buy when they're browsing the platform, making it a key driver in moving Lowe's customers from inspiration to action. To inspire customers' home improvement projects by delivering suggested products or entire looks based on their activity on the platform, the home improvement chain has incorporated mobile technology like visual search and shoppable pins into the mix.

"The project nature of Pinterest lends itself very well to home improvement, but what's most interesting is the mindset the consumer is in when they're on Pinterest," Versaggi said.

The visual aspect of the platform makes it a key discovery tool, especially because on-the-go browsing and video consumption are growing increasingly popular as consumers continue to shift their media habits toward mobile. The in-app share of mobile video is set to grow from 78% this year to 84% in 2023, according to a Forrester Research study. People are becoming more comfortable viewing mobile video as the share of smartphone screens that measure at least 4.5 inches increases, boosting the options and adding to their allure for advertisers.